Rights, Why It´s Important to Have Nuanced Discussions about Videogame Companies Practices |OT| "I'll take AAA over indies on PS5. Thanks, Sony."

[Deleted member 85465]

What is this?

Each week I will try to do a post about a topic of how a discussion on videogames can improve, if someone else wants to do the weekly post of an specific week, please DM me so that we can collaborate.

The topic can range from the explanation of a right, tips to improve arguments, in general anything that would help to bring more nuance to discussion in the context of videogames.

If you notice an error or something that is a glaring omission feel free to point it out to edit the post.

Remember, discussion is always open here.

Weekly improvement post #001: Discussion as a way to expand your views.

Ever notice that a videogame discussion sometimes feels like a fight? one of the main reasons this could be the case, is because the persons participating on the discussion may not really be open to hear an argument that disagrees with their view.

Seeing discussion as a way to expand your views can help to diminish a possible hostile discussion, instead of entering the discussion with the intention of proving how right your view is, be open to hear the other side, you could learn something new that way.

Now, there are limits to this, like for example:

User 1: "@´#& VIDEOGAME COMPANY X"

User 2: "But I like that company for this and that, why don´t you like it?"

User 1: "@´#& you!"

If the other party in the discussion is hostile or not open to hear any argument, then maybe is best to ignore that person, there is a lot of nuance to this though and it depends case by case, this was an extreme hypothetical case, in other cases maybe someone being furious with a practice of a videogame company may not necessarily mean that the person is hostile to discussion.

This would be a more "positive" hypothetical example:

User 1: "I hate company X."

User 2: "I like company X, because X reason."

User 1: "I didn´t knew that, maybe I hate company X less now."

And with that the post ends.

Already knew that? that's good, didn´t know about it? it´s fine.

Either way, if you want to, try to do it, maybe it will benefit you!

 

[Deleted member 85465]

Remember, discussion is always open here.

Weekly improvement post #002: Reading the nuance on videogame rumors news.

So, Platform X didn´t announce the game that was "leaked" by insiders, and now maybe you feel letdown, others seem to be disappointed too, so what happened here?

Maybe, those insiders rumors were unfounded---maybe we should take rumors as what they are.

Which is: "A currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth."

Here is the thing, a rumor by its own nature is uncertain, even if the most reputable news source reports something as a rumor, then you should not take that as a certainty.

Though, something that has become kind of common place now is the following:

My most trusted videogame news source didn´t report it as a rumor!

The reason being unknown to me, its become common for videogame news sites to report rumors as fact, so lets check the most popular recent example which you can read here.

Boomblerg released the following:

Nintendo Co. plans to begin assembly of its new Switch as soon as July and release the upgraded replacement for its four-year-old game console in September or October, people familiar with the matter said.

The new console, likely to be priced higher than the $299 original, may be announced ahead of the E3 conference starting June 12 to allow publishers to showcase their full range of Switch games at the global event, the people said, asking not to be named because the plans are not yet public. It will be sold alongside the $199 Switch Lite, with the standard Switch phased out over time.

Click to shrink...

Although the title of the article is "Nintendo Plans Upgraded Switch Replacement as Soon as September" , the content of it, is without a doubt a rumor, because their source is not official, since it is "people familiar with the matter."

Even knowing this, its always good to check the past reputation of a videogame news outlet or insider, since it could lead to more credibility of the rumor, let´s also take into account that the videogame industry is secretive, which means that an insider can´t normally tell their source.

That´s why its not only important to take rumors as uncertain, but to also read past the title of a thread or article, since the content of it could completely change its meaning.

With that the post ends.

Already knew that? that's good, didn´t know about it? it´s fine.

Either way, if you want to, try to do it, maybe it will benefit you!

 

[Deleted member 85465]

Remember, discussion is always open here.

Weekly improvement post #003: Agreeing to disagree, while understanding the other point of view.

Sometimes no matter how much two parties in a discussion try, they can't agree at all, this is normal, what is normally said in those situations is the following:

"Let's agree to disagree."

Which causes discussion to normally end... but what if those two parties tried to understand each other's point of view? Let's see an example:

User 1: I really like how fast this blue plumber runs in this videogame.

User 2: I hate that, I feel I loose all control and the enemies appear before I can react, that sucks!

User 1: Yeah, I can see that, but that is part of the charm and challenge of the game to me.

User 2: Huh, I guess it does make it more challenging in a way, but I still don't like it, but who knows with that it mind maybe I will give it another try.

As it can be seen in the example, although both users completely disagree, the discussion can still continue after that point, since they are both trying to have empathy and understanding of each others point of view, sometimes disagreements can make a discussion more fun, since it can enrich your view about videogames in general.

With that the post ends.

Already knew that? that's good, didn´t know about it? it´s fine.

Either way, if you want to, try to do it, maybe it will benefit you!

 

[Deleted member 85465]

Staying hydrated helps to keep the mind clear, remember, discussion is always open here.

Weekly improvement post #004: So, it has been revealed that your favorite videogame company does some fucking horrible practices, What can you do?

Let´s say your favorite videogame company, which you have been following for 20 plus years, is revealed, by trustworthy outlets, to have incredibly inhumane practices. You are probably surprised by this, What does one, as single individual, can do to show that company that those practices are unacceptable?

One can be cynical and say that your voice doesn´t matter, but I can tell you right now that is NOT the case, YOUR VOICE MATTERS, change is slow, authorities are slower, here are some actions you can take to increase the chance of change:

1) SAY IT: Whether on Twitter, Resetera, other forums, Youtube, Instagram, Facebook, any form of social media, even talking about it with friends that do gaming, SAYING you will stop supporting that videogame company increases the chance of convincing another human being of doing the same, with luck it will get to mainstream media outlets.

2) BUY USED: If you have the option of physical media and can´t resist missing out on the games, buying used will not give any profit to that videogame company.

3) DO NOT PRE-ORDER, DO NOT BUY AT LAUNCH: If you can´t resist missing out on the games and only have access to digital media. You can buy at a discount, you may be still supporting that company, but at least the profit will be less.

4) CANCEL PRE-ORDERS, SUSCRIPTIONS, STOP BUYING GAMES AND MICROTRANSACTIONS: If you are able to do it, stop any form of payment you were doing in favor of that videogame company, any little action increases the chance of change.

5) KEEP THE PRESSURE: If you are up to it, you can keep telling others, remind others.

6) KNOW YOUR LIMITS: You may have good intentions, but please do not harass lower employees of the videogame company, also death threats are NOT ACCEPTABLE.

If you are a mod or an owner of a forum, let´s say as an hypothetical example: Resetera, being open or communicating how your site is going to handle news, and discussion about that videogame company goes a long way of showing support against horrible practices.

In my small view, a good way to handle this in a forum would be:

1) News about the horrible practices stay: To keep the information about those practices available.

2) ALL Discussions about the games of that videogame company should have a pinned message about the horrible practices, with links to the sources.

3) Threads about new videogame announcements of that videogame company should be BANNED.

Letting this be known to the users of your site goes a great length in bringing more awareness to your users.

To close this long rambling thoughts of mine, How do I know this works? Well lets see the more recent example with Activision/Blizzard, starting with links about their horrible work culture and practices:

1) Main News.
2) Ex-employee confirming the abuse practices.
3) More ex-employees confirming the news.
4) Jason Shreier confirming some of the abusive practices.
5) Jez Corden confirming the abusive practices are real.
6) More ex-employees speaking out.
7) Blizzard used a horrible "honor" points system to abuse its employees.
8) Blizzard recruiter invited possible new hires to threesomes.
9) Alanah Pearce video response to the news.
10) The lawsuit is also looking to enforce workplace standards
11) Blizzard 2010 QA were they made fun of a fan asking for non-oversexualized female outfits in Blizzard games.
12) Activision/Blizzard will cut jobs even when having record profits.
13) Blizzard president empty promise email.
14) Another ex-employee speaking out.
15) Ex-employee calling out hypocrite Blizzard leader.
16) Another ex-employee speaking out.
17) Sony Santa Monica developer calling out the empty "I am sorry" letters from Blizzard leadership.
18) Tik Tok video of Ex-employee saying that Activision/Blizzard horrible abusive practices are real.
19) Current Blizzard Employee calling out abusers at Blizzard.
20) Ex-employee calling out Blizzard.
21) Ex-employee talking how Blizzard leadership never gave her a chance.
22) Blizzard's abhorrent culture goes way back.
23) Wow streamer calls out Blizzard.
24) Game developer calls out Blizzard.
25) Ex-Blizzard employee speaks out.
26) Ex-Blizzard employee reveals actual Blizzard policy.

UPDATE 07/27
27) Infinity Ward has horrible practices too.
28) Ex-employee reveals employee review received from Blizzard in 2016.

UPDATE 07/28
29) Bobby Kotick Empty letter.
30) Late empty letter from Blizzard co-founder.
31) Kotaku article about Blizzards "Cosby suite"
32) Greg Street (Blizzard) talked in the open about the Cosby Suite since 2013.
33) Blizzard HR always knew (tweet deleted)
34) Overwatch hero (McCree) is named after Blizzard abuser.
35) More Greg Street confirmation (photo)
36) Sony is fine with racism apparently
37) Naughty Dog, Insomniac and Bioware have horrible practices too.
38) Microsoft is denying to publish results from their abuse culture and practices audit.
39) Kotaku 2018 report about Riot games horrible culture.
40) Ex-employee indicates harassment issues at Final Fantasy XIV game studio.
41) Greg Street (Blizzard) is either a clown, having a breakdown or both.
42) Josh Mosqueira (ex blizzard) reveals more than 100 people attended one party in the Cosby suite, with a mix of fans and developers, admits being complicit of the culture, yikes.
43) Activision is working with an union-busting firm.

UPDATE 07/29
44) David Brevik says that Blizzard´s problematic culture is not present in Blizzard North, declares that there was only one incident years ago that resulted in the abuser being fired [corroboration needed]
45) Blizzard permitted "rape" team names at tournament in 2008 (aimed at a minor)
46) Bobby Kotick (Activision CEO) is on Epstein´s Little Black Book.
47) Activision/Blizzard doubles down and cancels all hands calls to address current situation, has not addressed the strike yet.
48) Blizzard´s 10 year anniversary creepy video.
49) Riot was warned about known sexual harasser, John Polidora, and still hired him.

UPDATE 07/30
50) In 2018, for 3 weeks, Activision ex-employee mounted cameras pointing to toilets in uni-sex bathrooms of the company.

UPDATE 07/31
51) EA has started to reach out to Ex-Blizzard employees, though their motives are unknown (could be a union-busting tactic)
52) Same as Activision, it seems that Square Enix has contracted an Union-Busting firm too.
53) Defender of waterboarding, forced nudity and sleep deprivation tactics, Frances Townsend, is the executive sponsor of Activision/Blizzard's employee Women's Network.

UPDATE 08/01
54) Activision executive implies blame to whistleblowing for their current situation.
55) It seems this is the disappointing response from Resetera's mod team about the Activision/Blizzard horrible culture news.

UPDATE 08/02
56) Former Blizzard Dev (2001) laughing at someone for having issues about racist content in a videogame.
57) January 2021, Activision declared that interviewing diverse candidates for every opening is "unworkable", while multiple time winner of "worst company of America" award, EA, said they would "consider it."

UPDATE 08/09
58) Current Activision CEO, Bobby Kotick, lost a legal battle over sexual harassment in 2007.
59) Epic causing some pc games to cost more with anti-competitive practices.
60) Activision/Blizzard doubling down on employing Frances Townsend.
61) Quantic Dream is constantly harassing and sending death threats to the whistleblowers that exposed their horrible practices (fraud, toxic culture, homophobic culture)
62) Polygon: Gone Home developer co-founder toxic culture (mainly towards women) exposed, toxic and abusive co-founder still working as a writer of the game story (mother/daughter story), even after allegations have come out and are known by Annapura (publisher).

UPDATE 08/17
63) Acti/Blizz accused of routinely deadnaming trans staff, making fun of non-binary employees.
64) Saudi Arabia wealth fund keeps buying Activision/Blizzard stock amid lawsuit
65) Activision ABK recruiters are telling workers that are pushing for change to stop being so loud, since it's making their recruiting job hard.

There will probably be more even after I post this, there is a sequence with this news, and that is, that the more and more people speak out, the more likely change is possible, though it may not be fast any help is something.

Here are also some examples of actual change (though as little as it may be it has to start somewhere) happening because people spoke out:

1) Like other videogame companies speaking out too.
2) Bungie making a compromise on being better.
3) Bungie actually following up on that promise.
4) A little bit of confirmation of those changes being positive.
5) More confirmation on those changes being positive.
6) Wow players trying to do at least some sort of protest in-game.
7) Small outlets announcing they will drop news about Activision/Blizzard
8) More small outlets.
9) More small outlets.
10) WoW players making their voice heard through in-game actions.
11) Another outlet.
12) News have now directly affected development of WoW.
13) Employees make their voice be heard.
14) Employees open letter to Activision/Blizzard.

UPDATE 07/27
15) Activision/Blizzard employees organize a strike.
16) Activision shareholders are investigating actions against the company.
17) Employee taking direct actions to improve work culture.
Overwatch e-sports team speaks out against Activision/Blizzard.

UPDATE 07/28
18) Abuser references from WoW have been removed.
19) 101 witnesses of Activision/Blizzard practices have been referred to California Department of Fair Employment and Housing
20) Another e-sports team calls out Activision/Blizzard
21) Strike organizers responding to Bobby Kotick letter.
22) Ex-Bioware and Ex-Insomniac employee speaking out.
23) Ubisofts employees call out Activision/Blizzard
24) People call out Greg Street's awfulness (Blizzard)
25) Creative director at Deviation Games (Studio partnered with Sony) was a participant of the Cosby suite
26) Current game director at Blizzard was also a participant of the Cosby Suite.
27) Ex-Blizzard employee calls out current game director at Blizzard.
28) Jeff Grubb publishes new policy about reporting news.
29) Blizzard creeps would stash beer in facilities meant for nursing mothers (to hide it because it was prohibited)
30) Image with names of some of the participants of the Cosby Suite.
31) French Union sues Ubisoft on a criminal court for "institutional sexual harassment"
32) Photo of Blizzard Strike.

UPDATE 07/29
33) Game developer speaks out about how Blizzard senior harassed her when she was an associate artistg Activison/Blizzard games in reaction to the news. out of college, also harassed and made threats of killing friend´s boyfriend.
34) Character designer reveals that the current art director of Riot Games, John Polidora, is the creep that harassed and threatened associate artists out of college.

UPDATE 07/30
35) One of the most popular WoW streamers is quitting the game in part because of the news of Blizzard's horrible culture.
36) More women speak out about Riot art director, has been hired twice by Riot games, the creep would invite women to live "rent-free" with him under the guise of giving them work at Blizzard
37) IGN Report: Activision / Blizzard employees see the strike of July 28 as the "beginning", by all accounts the strike was a success, employees are organizing to change Blizzard´s core, also a recount of other past horrifying Blizzard practices.
38) Overwatch League speaks out against Activision/Blizzard culture, will donate and match donations to charities.
39) Waypoint report: Blizzard outright refused to take action in 2017 to work on their sexual harassment culture, after a cybersecurity company made that a condition to work with them, since Blizzard recruiters would ask women at job fairs if they "liked being penetrated".
40) Jeff Strain, ex-Blizzard developer and current studio head of Undead Labs, gives FULL permission to his employees to Unionize, also invites the industry in general to do the same.

UPDATE 07/31

41) Game maker has posted tips of how to resist common Union-Busting strategies to help workers.
42) Ex-Blizzard employee speaks explicitly about sexual assault incident instigated by Alex Afrasiabi.

UPDATE 08/01
43) Swiss retailer will stop selling Activision/Blizzard games in reaction to the news.
44) Producer of Overwatch calls out Frances Townsend (Activision/Blizzard executive) about how she said "there is no point to hear women talk about abuse"
45) Mike Selinker (Ex-employee) explains why probably ALL of Activision's leadership has to go for things to improve.

UPDATE 08/02
46) ex-employee speaks out about "woke capitalist" culture at Activision/Blizzard, Hong kong talk is banned internally, other horrible practices.
47) Confirmed, T-mobile no longer a sponsor for the Cod and Overwatch leagues, probably because of the Activision lawsuit.
48) Interview with the fan that asked "why are all female Blizzard characters oversexualized [paraphrasing]" at the 2010 Blizzcon Q&A
49) Take-Two made an statement about the Activision/Blizzard lawsuit, apparently even talked with investors about it, time will tell if its an empty promise or not.

UPDATE 08/09
50) Blizzard president J. Allen Brack quits.
51) Master chief voice actor says trans rights are human rights
52) Coca-Cola, State Farm, pull out as sponsors of the Overwatch league, amid Activision/Blizzard lawsuit.
53) Jason Schreier at Bloomberg: An in-depth look at Blizzard's sexist culture.
54) Final Fantasy XIV employee speaks out about sexual harassment incident and culture within Square-Enix.
55) Head of Blizzard HR no longer at the company
56) In surprising news, Resetera's administrator agrees that raising awareness of the sexual harassment culture in the gaming industry is a way to improve things. [I am trying to contact B-Dubs to help with that :)]
57) Moderator also agrees on raising awareness.
58) Frances Townsend has reportedly stepped down from ABK Women's Network (Activision/Blizzard)

UPDATE 08/17
59) Activision/Blizzard shareholder group demands management change, says response so far has been "inadequate"
60) Lawyer reacts (video) to Acti/Blizz lawsuit.
61) [Kotaku] Luis Barriga (Diablo IV director), Jesse McCree, & Jonathan LeCraft were let go from Blizzard
62) Overwatch casters refuse to say the name McCree In official e-sports matches
63) Upcomer: More Activision/Blizzard allegations

Change is possible, a little help goes a long way on making it happen.

With that the post ends.

Already knew that? that's good, didn´t know about it? it´s fine.

Either way, if you want to, try to do it, maybe it will benefit you!

 

[Deleted member 85465]

For some drinking tea is relaxing, being relaxed while arguing can help you keep your cool.

Weekly improvement post #005: Bad faith arguments are really popular on the videogame industry, but what is that?

If you frequent forums or social media in general about videogames you may or may not find a lot of users accusing each other about "arguing in bad faith", whether it being about Zelda Skyward Sword being actually a "game that was received well because it has Zelda on its name" (I personally think the game is the best Zelda game ever) all along or Halo 5 "ruining the franchise forever", using the term "bad faith argument" or "arguing in bad faith" doesn't really make sense if you don't know what that means, so to help with that, here are some definitions of a bad faith argument:

Bad faith (Latin: mala fides) is a sustained form of deception which consists of entertaining or pretending to entertain one set of feelings while acting as if influenced by another.[1] It is associated with hypocrisy, breach of contract, affectation, and lip service.[2] It is not to be confused with heresy (supposedly false religious faith). It may involve intentional deceit of others, or self-deception. [Wikipedia]

Click to shrink...

BAD FAITH: A "Bad Faith" discussion is one in which one or both of the parties has
a hidden, unrevealed agenda—often to dominate or coerce the other individual into
compliance or acquiescence of some sort—or lacks basic respect for the rights, dignity,
or autonomy of the other party. Disrespect for the other party may include dishonesty. A
person engaged in bad faith does not accept the other person as s/he is, but demands
that s/he change in order to satisfy his/her requirements or to accept his/her will.

A "bad faith" discussion is doomed to fail, as one or both person's rights, dignity, and
autonomy are not respected. A "good faith" argument relies on persuasion to try to
convince the other person whereas a "bad faith" argument relies on other means,
possibly including intimidation or coercion. "Bad faith" arguments in private life are best
exited swiftly, and are generally not effective at swaying hearts and minds. In public life,
they are best exposed. As Dale Carnegie expressed it in How to Win Friends and Influence
People, "A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still." [This adage
appeared earlier as "Convince a man against his will, He's of the same opinion still." in
the notes of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, 1792, by Mary Wollstonecraft.] [Cato.org]

Click to shrink...

My understanding of "to argue in bad faith" is "arguing for some purpose other than to arrive at a more truthful understanding of the world" or whatever part of it you happen to be arguing about.

Arguing to WIN, regardless of being right or wrong, is to argue in bad faith.
Arguing to ASSERT dominance over another is to argue in bad faith. Arguing in order to GAIN something at another's expense, to CLIMB some social ladder, to STOKE one's ego, to belittle, undermine, gaslight, sabotage, manipulate or mislead is to argue in bad faith.

The only faithful reason to argue is in an honest quest for truth, which requires the introspection to see one's own fallibility, the rationality to discern truth from fiction, and the humility to admit it to oneself and others. [Quora]

Click to shrink...

There a lot of meanings of what exactly "bad faith" means, but one general characteristic, that is consistent, is that a bad faith argument at its core is dishonest. The party arguing in bad faith will normally over exaggerate, take out of context or outright refuse to argue the actual points of a good faith argument. So, with having a general idea of what a bad faith argument is lets use a real example of a bad faith argument.

Huh, good thing I have a link to the disappointing response from Resetera's mod team about the Activision/Blizzard horrible culture news, cool right?

Here is the argument:

Literally every publisher and studio in the industry is guilty of misogyny and sexism. There isn't a single one that hasn't had someone come forward against them. Ubisoft, Riot, Insomniac, Microsoft, Naughty Dog, the list goes on and on and on. Big publishers and independent developers both. This is systemic across the entire industry. Banning just one publisher/studio and not all of the others sends a message that we only care about this when it gets particularly bad. It's wholly unacceptable regardless of who does it.

Banning just Acti/Blizz sends the message that it's just them that's the problem. They aren't the only ones. It's everyone. Every game we enjoy is tainted by this, there is no getting around that or minimizing it. This is why we pointed people towards charities to help women because this is a systemic problem. You cannot pretend it's just Acti/Blizz because it isn't. You don't get to write this off as just a single studio or publisher.

Click to shrink...

Why is this a bad faith argument?

First, over generalizing, does the whole game industry have systemic problems with misogyny and sexism? yes, does every single game developer have an entire state suing them because of an overwhelming horrifying culture? not really (I am not saying one type of abuse is more important than the other, by the way.)

Second, was the user that made that thread even talking about only banning Activision/Blizzard? hmmm lets see:

So my question now then is why isn't Ubisoft, Activision Blizzard, Riot and others that have severely toxic/abusive work cultures receiving the same treatment?
The way I'm looking at it shouldn't the same rules apply to these companies and their products considering they've got discrimination, mistreatment of workers, sexual harassment and many other horrible details out there and its only going to get worse as time moves on especially with the current lawsuit Activision Blizzard has ongoing right now.

Click to shrink...

Hmmmm, weird, is almost like the thread was asking for a general ban not an specific one, so yeah the second reason why its a bad faith argument is because the OP of the thread was not asking for only an Acti/Bliz ban, so yeah the general manager of Resetera didn't even read the OP apparently (you can prove me wrong B-Dubs.)

Third, not only did the general manager of this site didn't even engage with the main argument of the thread, they also completely locked the thread, which means no chance of discussion, not a good look in my book.

There are more reasons, but those are the main ones, but at the end of the day my recommendation would be to try to have empathy when arguing with others, lets make it popular to argue in good faith.

Change is possible, a little help goes a long way on making it happen.

With that the post ends.

Already knew that? that's good, didn´t know about it? it´s fine.

Either way, if you want to, try to do it, maybe it will benefit you!

 

[Deleted member 85465]

You look at the mirror and you see what you want... oh yeah, being self-aware can improve your arguments too!

Weekly improvement post #006: Its okay to call out a practice that gives profit to a videogame company while negatively impacting the "gamers" [a bad joke was tried.]

If you frequent any type of social media, (I recently discovered that Resetera is social media too!), and read news about videogames, you will certainly find a lot of people (most of the time probably not bots) that will defend any practice their favorite videogame company does, even when that practice may actually impact them negatively, but why is that?

I actually want to know why, I really don't buy the justification of "maybe people in this hardcore forum don't know why my favorite Jimbo is doing this!", so if you know why please let me know.

Continuing with the topic at hand, I will provide multiple examples of recent practices, that while bring money to a videogame company it negatively impacts the mythic "gamer" [I am not using the word seriously, is a bad joke I want to use ;-;]:

1) Epic Games timed exclusive games artificially inflate the price of those timed exclusive games. link to source.

But its just a launcher! (NO, its not just that, don't even try to bring that tired bad faith argument), while this practice is not as defended as others, I have seen some users here defending it, so while this brings profits to the developer of the game that gets the deal (though at least for now it actually causes profit loss to Epic), this doesn't benefit the "gamer", since not only do you get a worse service on Epic (Shopping cart when Tim!?), want it or not, having less options to buy a PC game results in worse prices, which is a negative if you are the one buying the games.

2) Sony not having PS1, PS2 and PS3 BC on PS5. I am sorry. Source.

Having less games to play on your new console is bad, even more so when your direct competitor not only has partial access to all their past consoles, but is also giving free improvements to BC games, though if you are the console maker its cheaper to not include this feature.

3) Microsoft buying up a lot of studios. Source.

This one is more complicated, first because technically Microsoft is doing this for a long term profit, and second, since it actually benefits some "gamers", but it negatively impacts others, so while it might benefit some "gamers", it might lead to industry consolidation.

4) Nintendo locking in-game content behind a hard to buy plastic toy. Source.

The only reason why Nintendo would do this is to entice the "gamers" that are not interested in the plastic toy (I like those plastic toys though) to buy it, so yeah even if its only "cosmetic" (though Nintendo has even locked the "hardest" mode of a game behind an amiibo) its still content locked behind a plastic toy.

Calling out this kind of practices can actually change a videogame company stance on continuing to do it (remember that harassment is NEVER okay), though I personally wouldn't recommend shaming someone for calling out this kind of practices, its better to try to discuss it, at the end we are all trying to get the best bang for our buck right?

Right?

With that the post ends.

Already knew that? that's good, didn´t know about it? it´s fine.

Either way, if you want to, try to do it, maybe it will benefit you!

 

[Deleted member 85465]

A little self-control can help to make a difference, maybe you don't need that videogame day one... or at all really.

Weekly improvement post #007: Are video game companies obligated to keep their word? The right to information explained!

Disclaimer, as all rights, the interpretation or even their existence varies by country/region, so your mileage may vary, this is not legal advice.

A little bit of a retread this week from the OP, but I felt it can be expanded upon a little bit.

Most of the time, consumer rights come into existence because a company abused their customers, since, believe it or not, when companies get big they may start to do abusive practices to expand their control on the market, sometimes leading to a monopoly, but what does this have to do with the right of information?

Well, you see, when a video game company starts to be vague about the information of the content of their products, which is an abusive practice, that is a violation of the right of information, but to make this clear, lets start with some definitions:

Right to Information – Businesses must provide consumers with accurate information, allowing them to make informed decisions about products and services. (Lexington Law)

Click to shrink...

To provide clear and adequate information on different products and services, with accurate specifications on their quantity, characteristics, composition, quality, and price, as well as on any risks they represent (Federal Consumer Protection Law, Mexico)

Click to shrink...

Right to be properly Informed: The consumer should be properly informed so as to weigh alternative choices before taking decision on products to buy. Therefore, the consumer should be protected from misguiding advertising, publications and handbills. (tipsinfluencer)

Click to shrink...

In general, the right to information is meant to protect the consumers against risks of using a product, false advertising, monopolies, etc.

In the case of videogames this right applies the same way, but to illustrate more here are some examples:

1) Videogame company's game prices: whether they cost 70, .50 dollars or any other published price, because of the right to information (there may be other rights that apply) a company is obligated to honor the price.

Though in this case some may say, but what if a company makes a price mistake?

Even in that case this right applies, since there is really no way for a consumer to know when a company is making a mistake, it would also be incredibly abusive for a company to be able to change the price of already made purchases, since errors are rare, and completely in control of the company, its unfair to put that responsability on the consumer, hence, why the right exists.

In case a company doesn't honor their price, there should be a consumer commission in your country to be able to report that company, normally that commission fines that company until they honor the originally published price.

2) Loot boxes (reminder that loot boxes are gambling and it should be prohibited to sell them to children): originally some loot boxes didn't publish the chance to win percentages, some have those chances published but there are reports saying that they are not accurate, either way, even a loot box has to have its contents published in a visibly way to not violate this right.

3) Obligatory downloadable content in a physical game: this practice is way more common in the Nintendo Switch, since their catridges are probably more expensive than discs, some companies end up selling a cartridge unplayable without downloading content, because of this the box art is plastered with a warning like this:

Though it may ruin the box art for some, the warning is there to protect consumers, since buying a product that doesn't work without external devices/means could be abusive if the consumer does not know about it.

Which is why the Xbox Series X not having a visible and clear warning of requiring a one time online check DRM to even work is a violation of the right to information.

Yep, the only mention of the console requiring that DRM check is below the box in really small letters:

Its even misleading, "initial set-up" doesn't really mean "if you don't have internet the console wont work", as much as I am enjoying the console right now, this is pretty bad.

There are a lot more examples where this right applies, but I think this helps to have a better idea of the concept of it.

With that the post ends.

Already knew that? that's good, didn´t know about it? it´s fine.

Either way, if you want to, try to do it, maybe it will benefit you!