A message for gamedevs...

Not my content but a small youtuber out there. It's short and think worth a watch though

 

A video clip with a cube and "mysterious" message pretty much indicates it is best skipped.

 

It's an emotional take on the topic, not a technical one. Not sure if this should be posted to a forum of a game engine, which is a very technical thing.

 

I think it's fine to discuss the emotional or psychological aspects of games in the General Discussion topic. But I think this "message" is misplaced, it shouldn't be aimed at "game developers", it should be aimed at the business people involved in those companies, managers, investors, etc. The main drive behind the addiction-driven "game dev" is business greed, nothing to do with strict game development.

I do not categorize those apps as real games. They are business developed skinner-boxes in order to suck as much money from people as possible. Have nothing to do with games.

 

So you are saying there are no indie devs here in this forum, only employees of companies where they don't have any influence?
Would be unfortunate if that's the case.

 

It's the same problem as the recycling issue. You can ask people to bring their reusable bags to the grocery store or use paper straws instead of plastics, but until you enable Shell and many other giants to release metric tons of oil into the oceans you do only PR BS.
Individual indie developers make small games usually (rare exception obviously always apply), giants in the mean time flooding the market with the same boring skinner-box BS "games" and sipping up billions of dollars. You can ask the individual indie developers but you allow the "Shell" corps of gaming to slip.

Developers rarely have influence in game development companies. They are forced to pitch their ideas and obviously will be shut down immediately when they want to make good games instead of monetization-first games. Always remember what Riccitiello said about monetization and F***ing idiots, it is a very good indicator of the current industry.
Also see what happened to Rocksteady and Suicide Squad. They simply felt they HAVE TO pitch an over monetized "live service" abomination. I think developer-influence inside Zynga for example even smaller.

 

Most of the people here or in general do not have any influence over companies that make p2w skinner boxes.

I fast forwarded this video, basically it is "make beautiful art! You have the tools! Be human!". Meaning it is nonsense, because the message is directed at the wrong people.

Let's, for example, take you. Let's say you quit your job, and start working on your dream project. Let's say you succeed and finish it. Let's say it is a hit. Let's say you earn couple of millions, start a studio, make few more project, success does not stop, and you continue.

All of this will do nothing to company like electronic arts, ubisoft, and to every other company in the world that churns out p2w titles. Because you and your studio for them do not matter. They never cared about art, humanity, beautiful messages, and wanted to make a best selling media hamburgers instead, that are as addictive as it is legally possible.

Realistically you can only nab this thing with a law. "all games with possibility of unlimited spending are now illegal". Then they'll move to a country where such law does not exist.

 

I'm sure he's actually talking about the same people you are. People outside the biz don't use the word "developer" the same way we do. People will often refer to a big company like EA as a "game developer" and if you accuse a company of wrong-doing, you're implicitly accusing the people at the top.

 

The willful negativity expressed by so many here is (I believe) best to be ignored.

 

Some of us have to eat. Get off your high horses.