2y ago

Rant: Frustration About Current State of Games Companies

Hi, everybody! Sorry for the rant! I'm Cross-Posting this from my other account on Beehaw, because I'd love to hear others' thoughts on this. I don't see much discussion about this and I'm really curious if maybe I'm viewing this all wrong.

I'm just posting this as a combination of question and vent. Does anyone else here feel frustrated by the current ethical dilemmas of purchasing games from certain companies? My partner is very tuned into the various ethical mishaps happening in the world and keeps me apprised of which companies are doing shitty stuff and which people/companies I should stop supporting. This is important to remember, but it is also frustrating to see how many companies out there are doing bad things.

This is a very "first world problem," but it's frustrating just how many games out there look cool, but I can't play them because it'd be giving those companies/people money. The biggest examples are Activision Blizzard, J.K. Rowling, and Wizards of the Coast. I think Baldurs Gate 3, for example, looks so awesome, but I don't feel comfortable playing it because my partner has alerted me that some of that money would go to Wizards. I feel somewhat frustrated that the discussion around these issues has evaporated when the games are released; it's as though people stopped caring about the bad things these companies/people did. To be entirely honest, I'm not sure if I myself would be able to keep myself accountable if my partner doesn't remind me of it; I think I may have bought the games like everyone else because of how fun they look, and how much they remind me of games I grew up on.

On a similar note, as my partner is working on becoming a game developer, he follows the state of game development and tells me about it, which seems bleak. I mourn the old studios that I used to have a lot of enjoyment for, like BioWare and the others that EA ate up.

Thanks for reading all of this. :) I wish things were more hopeful, I suppose. My partner urges me to support indie developers, so I'm trying to move in that direction. Does anyone have any recommendations on staying hopeful, given the current state of entertainment?

TL;DR: I'm frustrated by the current largely-unethical state of the games industry and want to know how I can regain some hope about it.

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Terrible people have produced magnificent "content" since Oog and Tharg first painted on cave walls. I love the work of Wagner, even though I'm not a Nazi. Fan of Lovecraft even though his standards are equally shitty. I adore American Psycho even though B E Ellis comes across as an utter tool. Picasso was a womanizing prick, boardering on paedophile. Great painter though.
Feel free to vote with your wallet, but if you become too sensitive to the moral and ethical views of people, or "some" of the people working for companies, you'll miss out on some masterpieces.
Having said that, I won't buy any Kelloggs products because fuck Kelloggs. Does that make me a hypocrite? Maybe a little, but we all need our lines in the sand.

If you were actually rigorous with this sort of attitude you wouldn’t be able to buy anything, not just your favorite video games. Just relax and enjoy yourself, you only get a tiny bit of time here.
- Thank you for your comfort. I think I'm trying to hold myself to realistic standards. When I can choose, and the options are many - such as with media - I feel I can cut out the options which don't align with my values. As I stated elsewhere, I cannot hold myself to this standard with food and clothing. The ethically-pure options are too limited to result in a realistic and affordable lifestyle for me.

I know this is a bit of a meme, but there is no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism. It's entirely a question of where you choose to draw the line.
This applies to a lot of causes/principles I care about, but to illustrate with my stance on LGBT issues:
If a company openly donates directly to anti-LGBT causes? I'd boycott them, no further questions needed.
If a high ranking member of a company donates to anti-LGBT causes using their own (likely unethically obtained) funds? I'd boycott for sure unless their product/service is an absolute necessity.
If a company is headquartered in a state/country that is anti-LGBT? I would definitely boycott as long as there is a suitable alternative.
If a company pays/employs people who are anti-LGBT? Gosh, well, that's probably most companies. Is it possible to account for how every individual employee/beneficiary chooses to spend the money they make for their work? I have no capacity to make choices at this point.
Those are my lines.
When I shop at the supermarket, I have to accept that there are likely people working there somewhere with horrible beliefs whose income is financially supported by my patronage. When I buy clothing, I have to accept that there are probably products I've purchased that are made through exploitative labor practices. When it is within my means to spend capital more ethically, I will. But it is absolutely not possible for me to ensure that every dollar I spend goes to a worthwhile cause or to someone who deserves it.
The Good Place really illustrated this point well in the later episodes. In the modern world where everything is so much more interconnected than ever before, we need to redefine traditional ethics to better consider what is practical for normal people. And the worse your circumstances are, the harder it is to have that luxury of choice.
- You illustrate your point very well, and with it you've helped me make a more clear decision. Your emphasis on the ability to choose, the luxury of multiple options, has clarified for me that I do in fact have quite a few options. I can chop out Acti-Blizz, JK Rowling, and WotC and still have tons of great sources of media. I have so many other choices.
  With clothing as you've stated - and I think food applies here as well - I don't have much in the way of choice unless I want to make my own clothes/grow my own food - and I do not have the skills for that.
  But with video games, which themselves are a luxury, I can stand to be a little more picky. I can always pirate the games later :)

Jesus... if you beat yourself up this much over games, how do you deal with stuff that really matters. Do you moralize over the gas you buy? Do you consider the cable company who gives you the internet connection, when you have only one option? Do you freak out over every single piece of food you purchase, and the supermarket you buy it from, and the television you watch?
Or do you only wax endlessly on video games? Play what you want to, or don't, but you're putting way too much thought into this, and if that's what you want to do, you've made your choice, but then perhaps you need to stop buying almost all video games, and read up on crunch, because almost every video game is made at the expense of their employees, and their mental health.
You do you.
As for me, I'll continue to support companies who I think make a good product, and not avoid stuff like Hogwarts Legacy, or Balder's Gate, because I realize the majority of the money I spend to pay for those games go to the developers who worked extremely hard to give fans something special. Because you won't hurt the big companies, but you definitely will destroy the developer and the company that made the game with that attitude.

You have to pick your battles, and trying to track every terrible thing that every company has done is tiring and futile. Most the AAA games I've paid for recently are MS owned, which is arguable to boycott. Then there's things like free games from Amazon, does that count as buying, what if it's an EA game or from Epic game store? Really that's three terrible companies.
Play what you want, if a company is too reprehensible to you then don't buy their stuff. The more you think about the more miserable it makes you and has no effect on any of these companies.

Piracy.
- Haha, this is a fair response. I'm considering it for the companies that make me feel more icky, but whose games seem really fun.

I just buy games that I think I'll enjoy.
Perhaps I'm old-fashioned.

What has WotC done to make you want to boycott them?
- I should clarify I'm not calling for a boycott; thinking realistically, I believe the gaming community is way too large/relatively uninformed for something like that to work. I'm simply trying to be mindful about how I spend my money.
  For WotC, it's a combination of their OGL licensing controversy and them sending the Pinkertons to someone's house to threaten them over Magic cards.

For me, the ethical dilemmas affect my enjoyment of games by how involved a scandal/cause of scandal is ingrained into the game. For example, I think Rowling's views are horrendous and I would absolutely stay away from projects that she has influence in; however, I still picked up Hogwarts Legacy because the studio spoke out against her views, and even included representation in their game for those who she spewed hatred against. The story was almost entirely original, so Rowling's influence was pretty much restrained to her having created the general world, and some minor character lore. The developers and designers did not cause the hate, so while it sucks some portion of my purchase went to Rowling (even if it was just in a license they paid, the success of the game would likely inspire them to make another, resulting in her getting more cash). It's difficult to want to punish the teams that built the game when someone who was largely hands-off is the reason it felt a little gross to play.
On the other hand, I've avoided High on Life because you need to hear Roiland talk through the majority of the game (until the patch replaces his voice). Squanch Games was owned by him, which means his views are likely reflected in larger portions of the game. I would be constantly reminded of Roiland, and his larger role likely means he profits quite a bit from the game doing well. While it's certain that Squanch Games has great people working for them that I wouldn't want to 'punish' by their game doing poorly either, it's just tough for me to separate them. (Also yes I've heard Roiland's charges were dropped, but the judgement was worded in a way that made it clear it was due to lack of damning evidence and not that he was necessarily absolved of accusations).
I agree that it's important to have discussions about topics and culture that surround projects like this so consumers can be aware of what their cash is supporting. Even though I did feel somewhat guilty buying Hogwarts, I also took the time to give $20 to The Trevor Project in an attempt to offset what Rowling would make from my purchase. Does that make up for it? Who knows.
- It sounds like you're struggling with the same ethical dilemmas that I am, and you're doing the best you can to consider your purchases as you make them. I think donating to the Trevor Project is an incredible way to spend your money.
  As you seem like someone that aligns with me in some ways, do you have any game recommendations that don't cause either of us to "feel the ick," so to speak?

You can only take moralistic consumerism so far; you cannot go 100% moral against today’s companies without living in the woods.
For instance, if my annoyance with Company X is that they generally charge too much, and offer poor licensing deals to business partners, or that they try to nickel and dime people on some video games, I probably won’t take a hard line stance on them. If they have a direct and fully voluntary interaction with a country committing genocide and making internment camps, I’m a bit more likely to do my best to live without them.
There can also sometimes be more distant connections or more blameless ones, like if a company uses materials from one such country in their products, but there is genuinely no practical alternative across the whole world when using such parts/ingredients.

I am not from america but our youth imported your moral/ethical/politics discussion shit on games. And it is so anoying. As if any company would care about moral integrity. Have you noticed that most companies which supported pride month with a little rainbow icon did not in all the countries where this is suppressed and forbidden?
The whole purpose of most companies is to gain money. And they will do whatever is necessary and legal in countries they operate in. And it is a own "discipline" called localization to exactly knowing about their possiblities 🤷🏻‍♂️ And like others said: most companies are up to no good. Energy, gas, food, clothes, cars... Pharma...
My advice #1: play the games, pay as less as possible. My advice #2: The field of indie games is great. I rarely play AAA. But I also just care about gameplay and don't like stories in games anymore.
Some cool games: dead cells, children of mortar, ember knights, mario kaizo hacks, path of exile (is not indie anymore but great anyways), brotato, cassette beasts, cosmoteer, rimworld, elite dangerous, hades, rogue legacy 2, noita, stardew valley, subnautica, super meat boy and so far and so on 😉

Indie games are the way to go. Way less predatory and often better anyways.
- That's fine, but there are a ton of non pixel art indie games: Hollow Knight, Spiritfarer, Hades (+ the other games by SuperGiant), Death's Door, A Hat in Time, Outer Wilds, GRIS, Bramble The Mountain King... I could add at least 10 more great games to this list. But indie games exist in all styles.

Ahoy matey. Quite a conundrum ya have there. Th' winds be fair in times like this... may yer briny deep be bountiful!

I played Overwatch for countless hours and took part in every event, but after Blizzard chose not to release the Pride event in multiple different countries, like Lithuania, Poland, Hungary, and even Russia where they no longer operate to be fined, I just couldn't get myself to play the game anymore. It's transphobic and homophobic to essentially tell people they don't deserve support because they already have it worse compared to America.

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