But it wasn't lame back then, and while the "Youtube of gaming" is a nice catchphrase that captures the heart of the matter fairly well, it's not an actual comparison, nor should it be used as one. Maybe in 5 years we'll look back to this day and think how lame the first months of Dream were, but for now, let it start evolving naturally without the massive influence in-game monetization would have on the cultre they're trying to cultivate here (which is one of sharing and collaborating). Expecting Dreams to be the Youtube of gaming on its tenth year with huge, proper games and such right from the get go is, frankly, absurd.
And for what it's worth, unlike when Youtube introduced monetization, it's not like some sort of monetization is impossible or anything like. We have Patreon and other similar services.
I don't really care a lot if it has monetization or not for my own uses. I don't plan to make a game in Dreams, because I already use other software for that. I'm just saying that after sampling the toolset for myself, and after surfing creations for myself, from the perspective of a gamedev I think monetization is the the most important question/decision that will be made for this platform... And I'll explain why I think that.
The toolset is robust. The DAW by itself is insane. This "game", Dreams, has a fully functioning, fully scriptable DAW built into it and it's not even the main event. The potential this platform has as far as games go is very real... But this presents a bit of a contradiction. A mixed message. Here's a full dev system for making games, but it's something no one is really going to do. It's a complete contradiction.
The reality is, no matter how intuitive or accessible your tools are, making a game is *very very hard* and takes *many, many hours*. The only thing in reach for anyone who doesn't commit to a large project are scattered, incomplete thoughts, tech demos, and, perhaps very occasionally, a completed, very small game. Something akin to a small flash game on kongregate (not a large flash game, but one of the smaller ones. The vast majority of people making flash games were doing it because they could make money through kongregate/armor games sponsorships).
I know some of you may insist otherwise, but from the player perspective, scattered, incomplete thoughts and tech demos aren't going to be compelling for very long. The novelty of that wears off quickly.
If you want to see the platform realize its potential, there must be a way to either export your project and sell it elsewhere, or receive tips/payments in-game somehow. If there's not, I just don't see how Dreams goes anywhere. The only fleshed out Dream I've seen is the story mode of the game, by media molecule, Art's Dream, and I promise you that took a team of people many many hours to accomplish. Something no one is doing for free. Those devs are paid a salary.