I get that it's a business model that charges too much for too little, probably, but if people willingly buy it anyways... ?????

I'm not seeing a problem?

What is the issue? Artistic integrity? Or is it somehow a leech on creativity, or something?

And why are you so convinced it's coming as a definite possibility?

Nono. As someone with Logic and Philosophy degrees, it's a formal fallacy.

Yep.

It can be a sensible argument, at times, but the structure of it is never a logical one. It just doesn't actually follow from premises, right?

Of course, dismissing an argument as slippery slope, and thus fallacious, out of hand, (not that it happened here) is itself a fallacy. Such an argument can have a correct conclusion, even with bad reasoning.

People are ignorant and therefore act like assholes. (Their understanding coming from fragmentary knowledge they glean from other ignorant people [or one biased article] on the internet.)

What might be worse are people who know a little more than average and extrapolate that they know everything.

So if you can't rely on reporters or your own experience, what can you rely on?

Your ability to learn and get smarter about the things you do? Not sure what you are getting at.

Now I'm confused. I took Kermit's response to mean that he thinks I know only a little more than an average person, I'm acting like I know everything, and am therefore not to be taken at value. I happen to think that my 13 years of experience in the games business is worth something. He also said that information coming from articles is biased, and is therefore also not to be trusted. So I want to know what sort of thing he would actually trust.

Maybe I misunderstood and he's saying that it doesn't matter what I say because other people are just going to act like assholes. I hadn't gotten that from his post, but your response makes me wonder if I should have taken it that way. I don't know.

Regardless, your ability to learn and get smarter at the things you do is pretty much the definition of experience, right? So it would seem Kermit is saying you can't rely on that.

People are ignorant and therefore act like assholes. (Their understanding coming from fragmentary knowledge they glean from other ignorant people [or one biased article] on the internet.)

What might be worse are people who know a little more than average and extrapolate that they know everything.

So if you can't rely on reporters or your own experience, what can you rely on?

Your ability to learn and get smarter about the things you do? Not sure what you are getting at.

People are ignorant and therefore act like assholes. (Their understanding coming from fragmentary knowledge they glean from other ignorant people [or one biased article] on the internet.)

What might be worse are people who know a little more than average and extrapolate that they know everything.

So if you can't rely on reporters or your own experience, what can you rely on?

Well, capitulation is often found when people give up principles. Just saying…

Only when that goes against what the previously stood for.

What might be worse are people who know a little more than average and extrapolate that they know everything.

The update is up!

Right Here

Edit... And it looks like we pulled a Taylor Swift everyone!

Luke shouldn't apologize; Activision, and whoever at Bungie is involved in pricing, should get their ass down to the Bungie blog and apologize for their shitty pricing model. And frankly they should apologize for charging an absurd $20 for these digital items as well. The price of HoW for this stuff? This is the kind of stuff that we as a community should be rankled by, not by snarky interviews. I hope that Luke doesn't change his attitude based on this backlash.

I never actually had a problem with Luke's behavior in the interview. I thought he was fine. The primary issue that I had was with the placement of the dance emote behind the $40 paywall, which had nothing to do with Luke.

Which probably had nothing to do with Bungie.

Which probably had mostly to do with Activision.

I actually feel Luke's been treated unfairly, and I hope he doesn't feel t0o bad and doesn't catch any more grief.

I will speak of dance emotes, forever no more.

... that is a little unique in the journalism side at least - which I just noticed when Monochron said:

If interviewers could stop attacking devs about pricing models that they likely have little influence over then reading their articles might become pleasant.

Compare that to comic book journalism, which isn't necessarily any better in general, but is a little different in this specific aspect. As in, I don't think I've ever read an article or interview with a writer or artist where the journalist throws them over the coals because Marvel or DC increased the price of their comic or the fact that there are ads in the middle of the art. It's just a known that the authors are in no way responsible for or even have a say in the stuff the big publishers do, so there's no point in grilling them about it.

This is a good point.

I think part of the blame comes from how little most people know about how the video game industry works. Even when I worked in it, many of the employees had confusing job titles that did not at all match their skillset, pay grade, or responsibilities. Take these two guys whom I worked with: Both were Associate Producers. One of them was responsible for setting up and installing every single dev kit in the building, he "hired" the interns, he fixed broken machines, and he assigned people to their workstations or offices. He was really functioning like a hybrid Producer / IT technician / Coordinator. The other guy with the Associate Producer had one job only: He bought and set up buffet lunches. That was it. He was our lunch lady. And these guys got the same title and credit in the games we worked on! This sort of job description confusion is commonplace in the industry (at least at the places I worked, such as EA and Activision). So you get in a habit of just asking people who seem authoritative, whether or not it's actually their job, and those people get in the habit of answering because they don't really know if that's something they're responsible for or not.

Now I'm going to say something crazy: Just like Cody knows he could make a better video game for $300M, I know I could run a company better than the way these major corps are doing it, at least in terms of efficiency, employee satisfaction, and product quality. I would certainly not be making the shareholders as happy (though I would pay quarterly dividends instead of only stockpiling my cash reserves... I'm looking at you, Apple). Since shareholders hire CEOs, well, that's why I don't run the place.

If interviewers could stop attacking devs about pricing models that they likely have little influence over then reading their articles might become pleasant.

Compare that to comic book journalism, which isn't necessarily any better in general, but is a little different in this specific aspect. As in, I don't think I've ever read an article or interview with a writer or artist where the journalist throws them over the coals because Marvel or DC increased the price of their comic or the fact that there are ads in the middle of the art. It's just a known that the authors are in no way responsible for or even have a say in the stuff the big publishers do, so there's no point in grilling them about it.

You're paying the full cost of an expansion, which included lots of class items and shaders, raised the level cap, had a raid or PoE, added ToO, new maps... There's no goddamn way I'm paying $20 for some class items and shaders alone. No. Way.

And that's totally fine that you are drawing that line in the sand. I full support that.

But I also hope that you won't get mad - or even pass judgment - when I do spend the $20 for the class items, shaders, and emotes.

I mean, by buying it you are endorsing the behavior. I can't get mad, but I can pass judgement.

People can not stop from judging people. What people have, is the choice to condemn people or not.

You're paying the full cost of an expansion, which included lots of class items and shaders, raised the level cap, had a raid or PoE, added ToO, new maps... There's no goddamn way I'm paying $20 for some class items and shaders alone. No. Way.

And that's totally fine that you are drawing that line in the sand. I full support that.

But I also hope that you won't get mad - or even pass judgment - when I do spend the $20 for the class items, shaders, and emotes.

I mean, by buying it you are endorsing the behavior. I can't get mad, but I can pass judgement.

You're paying the full cost of an expansion, which included lots of class items and shaders, raised the level cap, had a raid or PoE, added ToO, new maps... There's no goddamn way I'm paying $20 for some class items and shaders alone. No. Way.

And that's totally fine that you are drawing that line in the sand. I full support that.

But I also hope that you won't get mad - or even pass judgment - when I do spend the $20 for the class items, shaders, and emotes.