Board 8 > In choosing games to play, do you take into account how wholesome the dev is?

(+) Yeah! (+)

So I was talking to my friend about Detroit: Become Human and he said he heard bad things about the writer/director, David Cage (in that he uses androids as shorthand for people of color). And that's why he doesn't have a desire to play the game.

His quote, verbatim:
I generally want my story-heavy game devs to be genuine and/or wholesome

Which is really weird to me. It's like preferring the lead developer of your Smart TV to be vegan or something. Besides the discussions he read were not from first hand sources (that is, the writer's family and friends) but also from critical strangers on the internet.

OTOH, I know that some people would be wary of supporting the works of a convicted pedophile/rapist, even if the work isn't at all about that.

What do you think?
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I won't buy anything with Rurouini Kenshin in it. Probably the firmest stance I've taken so far.

Your friend has other reasons to not play David Cage games, though.

Like.

Him being a talentless hack.
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I don't think I've ever even thought of that
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I do my best to separate the artist from their art but their are certainly instances that I'll refrain from giving my money to certain people.
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For the most part no, though I can see holding back in extreme situations.

Like, I wouldn't necessarily want to play a game about race relations written by someone who is openly racist because I can assume it would most likely be a pretty racist game

but as far as them being "genuine and wholesome," that's so vague I can't even tell what they're trying to suggest
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NBIceman posted...

I do my best to separate the artist from their art but their are certainly instances that I'll refrain from giving my money to certain people.

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Tom Bombadil posted...

NBIceman posted...

I do my best to separate the artist from their art but their are certainly instances that I'll refrain from giving my money to certain people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catullus_16
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There's a distinction between consume and purchase.

I would absolutely consume anything created by anyone. I probably would purchase anything too because of how little I think my contribution matters, but at least I might feel at least a little bad about it.
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Usually not, but when I know it's a recent game by some company doing SJW idiocy, I'll pass because my game time is very limited anyway.

LapisLazuli posted...

I won't buy anything with Rurouini Kenshin in it.

lol, what?
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Vlado posted...

Usually not, but when I know it's a recent game by some company doing SJW idiocy, I'll pass because my game time is very limited anyway.

LapisLazuli posted...

I won't buy anything with Rurouini Kenshin in it.

lol, what?

The author was caught with child pornography, I assume that's why
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Uhhh, sort of? Probably won't deliberately avoid a game for having an asshole dev but it is a bit of a strike against it and I can't think of many situations where a jerk dev put out an amazing game anyway, tends to be overlap between dev problems and game problems

Of course no. Why should I?
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MZero11 posted...

The author was caught with child pornography, I assume that's why

Oh wow, I've somehow missed that news... Awful.
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I'll sometimes take it into consideration.
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Yes.
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Honestly, it depends.

It's not a regular practice of mine, but I could totally see using it as an excuse not to buy a game I was on the fence about
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I don't care about devs unless it comes across into their work. Like Johnbobb said, if a racist dev had a heavily racist game then I wouldn't want to play that.

(But also I don't see what's bad about using androids as a metaphor for people of color?)
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Not at all. I find the people that jump on these 'boycott' bandwagons

A) Don't realize that if you dig deep enough you'll find a negative association with ANY developer or company
B) Don't realize how dumb and immature they look when they're leading their "hate campaign of the week".
C) How exhausting it is that 90% of the discourse in gaming communities is pointless soapboxing and virtue signalling.

If you had asked me 10 years ago, I probably would have said Yes, but the sheer volume of SJW bullshit in 2018 has completely jaded me from caring about any of that stuff.
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Nope. I dont have any reason to. Im more upset that Sony and other places are cracking down on certain types of content because people are too damn sensitive these days.

We get it BT you want to fuck Abby.
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NBIceman posted...

I do my best to separate the artist from their art but their are certainly instances that I'll refrain from giving my money to certain people.

^

I don't think anyone avoided playing DQ11 even though the composer is an incredibly racist asshole.
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Unless the influence directly bleeds into the product and taints it to a point where I'm not enjoying it, no. Outrage culture only rewards people who are better at covering up the bad stuff they do. I think the positive spin of maybe going out of your way to support companies or developers that are known to do good things is the right way of it.
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If theyre really bad (e.g. I wont watch Woody Allens stuff), but if theyre just an asshole or a bit racist or something Im probably not gonna avoid it unless it crosses over to their work.
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Depends on how aware I am of the devs views as well as how much they bleed into the product
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I would say that when it comes to a very story-driven game in particular, knowing the author's personality and views and feelings about things can absolutely color how the story reads

It also matters to me whether I get into the person first, or find out he's a jerk first. If I already enjoyed the content, scandal won't taint it as much for me as it would if I was deciding whether or not to try something out.
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Raka_Putra posted...

It's like preferring the lead developer of your Smart TV to be vegan or something

Smart TV creators are not auteurs. It's like preferring your chef to be vegan.

Usually I don't care too much about the dev, but increasingly often it is a big enough deal that it ruins the game (or makes the game, if the effect is positive). I do think it's good if people care about who is behind their entertainment and the stuff they buy in general. Beyond avoiding support for nazis etc, it also leads to consumers caring about mass layoffs and other kinds of injustices in the entertainment industry, which is really good.
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no. I don't care of the morality of who made it. Not sure I'd have the effort to background check every single content creator for their moral stance.

it depends
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I usually don't even think about it.
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i still buy nintendo games despite the fact they've released more mario kart games in the last 15 years than f-zero games ever
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LeonhartFour posted...

I usually don't even think about it.

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I don't care one lick about their morality, but I will stop buying from people with shitty business practices or anti-consumer behavior.
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Xiahou Shake posted...

I don't care one lick about their morality, but I will stop buying from people with shitty business practices or anti-consumer behavior.

This. Could not care less at all about a persons beliefs or non-business related actions.

If they are known for practices that actively try to screw over their customers, however, that is something I won't buy into.