Joey said:
^ You didn't read what I said, I said I know plenty of local fanboys who think it's pretty pants, even terrible.
I did read what you said, and I won't deny either that there are locals, big-time KD fans even, who don't enjoy it. I know several. But for every one of those you can show me, I can show you another who loves it, so this is really a moot point. I was addressing your assertion that I305 fails to be a fun ride.
Joey said:
I305 is intense. There's no way anyone can deny that fact. It's the most intense roller coaster in the world. And many enthusiasts clearly think that intensity so prolonged and strong is a very good thing, why..? Because it's so unusual what we thought we always wanted - an "extreme" ride, even though it turned out to be vile??
Well, as you say, nobody will deny I305's intensity as fact. However, positing that most enthusiasts have tricked themselves into thinking they enjoy an objectively terrible ride only because it meets some previously unattainable standard of intensity is purely conjecture, and whether or not I305 is "vile" is obviously a matter of opinion. While you feel that way about it, I think it's excellent. You state that it is a fundamental failure as a fun ride, but I'd say that it's the most fun I've ever had on a coaster. Some may find it intense to the point of discomfort and unpleasantness, but to me, that level of intensity is extremely thrilling and very enjoyable.
You see where I'm going with this? We could debate this ad infinitum, but at the end of the day, there's still no unbiased objective metric to determine what is and isn't a good ride, nor could there ever be, because biases & preferences as to what constitutes a "good" ride are always going to differ widely from person to person. With that being said, the closest thing we have to such a metric is a poll like this one, and while the results certainly aren't going to be met with universal agreement, they do give the best available portrayal of popular opinion.
Joey said:
A problem with the poll is that most coaster enthusiasts do not vote coasters in order of their funness, they try to critically order them in terms of enthusiast connoisseurship that someone else decided for them.
...
At the end of the day, I305 was given a good review on opening day by a certain very well listened to enthusiast who runs a community where the majority of poll voters come from. It really is that simple. The majority of people outside of that community do not rate I305, most think it's terrible.
See, I think here you're making a lot of assumptions here about how people go about the voting process. I won't deny TPR's influence on the polls, but how can you say with any certainty which voters vote for what's "supposed" to be good and which ones actually vote for what they like? And do these two things not often go hand in hand?
You and I both have heard and read opinions from people who dislike, even hate, I305, but that can't be construed to mean that the only people who rate the ride highly are primarily TPR'ers. If most of the people I know hold a certain political belief, is it fair for me to go ahead and assume that that belief is just as widely held among the larger national population?
The point is that while I305 is unquestionably polarizing, it's likely not as reviled by most as you suggest it is. Google "Intimidator 305 review" and read some of the hits that come up. Mostly various blog entries, and you get some negative ones, some with mixed opinions, and many offering positive, even if not effusive, praise. And though I'm loathe to invoke this, you could also go look at the comments on Youtube videos of I305 as well & you'd see a similar story: some negative, mostly positive. So yeah, while it may seem strange that a coaster ranked so highly can be considered very poor by some, I'm inclined to believe that the overall majority of those who've ridden it view it at least somewhat favorably. This of course does nothing to validate or invalidate anyone's personal opinion of the ride; I'm simply trying to make the argument that it's probably more well-received than you think it is.
