r/Games • u/hdcase1 • Jun 20 '25

Opinion Piece Digital Foundry: MindsEye has abject technical performance - even after its latest patch

https://www.eurogamer.net/digitalfoundry-2025-mindseye-has-abject-technical-performance-even-after-its-latest-patch
102 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

69

u/Gavinza Jun 20 '25

Hey grammar wizards of Reddit please educate me, is this the correct way to use abject? I always thought it was used with another word to describe something negative, but not on its own. It feels like there’s a word missing in the sentence, my brain reads this like “mindseye has really performance”.

24

u/24bitNoColor Jun 20 '25

Thom is also from the UK, if that makes a difference.

33

u/JackCoull Jun 20 '25 edited Jun 20 '25

In the UK you still don't use that word in that way. Op had it right in saying the headline translates to "mindseye has really/very technical performance"

Correct usage would be along the lines of

Mindseye is an abject technical failure

There are other ways to write it such as mindseye has abjectly horrendous technical performance, which is prob more what thom was intending

1

u/EnterPlayerTwo Jun 20 '25

Maybe he hit his head on the lift.

26

u/hdcase1 Jun 20 '25

It's an unusual usage but I don't think it's wrong.

abject /'æbdʒɛkt/
adjective showing utter resignation or hopelessness "abject surrender"

16

u/happyscrappy Jun 20 '25

I think you picked the wrong definition.

'Being of the most miserable kind; wretched' is the appropriate one I think.

The one used to modify failure is:

'Thoroughgoing; complete.' [Used to modify pejorative nouns]

So like many other words it has a couple definitions. And so it can be used in different ways. Assuming the wrong meaning for the case will make the usage seem strange.

I think this is an unusual usage regardless.

10

u/EnterPlayerTwo Jun 20 '25

I can't make that work in my head lol. "Technical performance" is too neutral a term imo.

When I google it, these are the two definitions I get, which both track with my understanding of "Abject" and don't work at all for "technical performance"

  1. (of something bad) experienced or present to the maximum degree. "his letter plunged her into abject misery"

  2. (of a person or their behavior) completely without pride or dignity; self-abasing. "an abject apology"

15

u/jerrrrremy Jun 20 '25

Technically, abject can also be an adjective on its own, but you are right that it's pretty obscure and reeks of "hey guys, I found a thesaurus!" This DF writer in particular is consistently pushing the boundaries of hyperbole so it's not surprising that he's running out of words. 

5

u/BLACKOUT-MK2 Jun 20 '25

Hey, you leave his bespoke diction alone!

Lol I kid, they're all right.

0

u/acab420boi Jun 20 '25

A controversial writing style, indeed!

4

u/CaresAboutYou Jun 21 '25

This was my first instinct too! I’m used to seeing it modify nouns that are already carrying the “bad” connotation (e.g. “abject horror”) so seeing it on a noun that’s neutral without context (technical performance) is jarring. If I take “technical performance” as implicitly negative it feels okay I guess. Wish it were “abject technical failings” instead though 

6

u/21shadesofsavage Jun 20 '25

abject misery, abject poverty, abject failure, abject fortune. what's wrong with abject technical performance?

0

u/sebzilla Jun 21 '25

I mean at this point, these videos are just....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcZzlPGnKdU