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[FunkMiller]

This latest debacle with Helldivers 2 is only the most recent example of a weird kind of Stockholm Syndrome that’s captured far too many gamers – and led to an industry where publishers think they can get away with almost anything they like.

It’s the Sony warriors this time around, but previous to this we’ve had just as bad from Xbox warriors defending some of Uncle Phil’s idiotic decisions.

It’s encouraging to see Sony have to back pedal due to pressure from the consumer, but this shouldn’t be in isolated incident – and it should stand as some kind of example to anyone who automatically jumps in to defend the corporation they happen to have aligned themselves with.

They don’t care about you. None of them do. They just want your money. You owe them no allegiance. You owe them nothing. Don’t be manipulated by people encouraging you to side with one corporation over another. You’re falling for some very basic marketing psychology. You’re a mark. And not a smart one.

We are cursed with broken games, incomplete games, over-priced games, games stuffed with MTX, and games designed for only one major purpose – to get cash out of your wallet.

This is because way too many gamers eat whatever shit their favourite corporation feeds them, say thank you, and wait for the next spoonful.

Stop it.

Helldivers 2 proves that you can make your opinion known about greed fuelled business practises coming from worthless gaming executives – and they have to listen, for fear of losing their next fucking bonus and yacht.

Remember that, the next time one of these companies puts out yet another virtually content free 'game' - with promises of updates further down the road. Or the next time they demand you sign up for things that don't provide any benefit whatsoever to you as a consumer. Or the next time they release a sub-standard piece of shit game that's full of bugs.

Stop pre-ordering. Stop leaping to the defence of corporations.

Except you Ass of Can Whooping - you carry on, son.

 

[Labadal]

People are schooled and brainwashed into bootlicking big corpos. It will only get worse.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

 

[Reckheim]

Honestly; people just care way too much about the most insignificant bullshit.

I can't believe this whole ordeal was such a huge deal across the web.

 

[TintoConCasera]

Would love to see it happen, but it won't.

I think there's something in human nature that leads to this kind of tribal behavior. Some people express it when defending their political party of choice, others when it comes to sports and their favorite team and, others, their gaming platform of choice.

Hell, there's even people that will look down on your for having an Android phone instead of a fucking iPhone.

 

[Mortisfacio]

The amount of "Sony didn't do anything wrong/out of line, it's the people in those 177 countries that made a mistake!" Posts was insane.

 

[35cent]

Yep. Remember kids, none of these companies are your friends. They'll happily throw you into a blender if they think they'll make money out of it.

 

[jshackles]

If nothing else, the Helldivers fiasco only reinforced my love of my platform of choice - Steam.

Consumer friendly and consumer first features are the real winners today. Having a storefront that allows verified purchase user reviews and a generous refund policy really helped tip the scales in the consumer's favor this time.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

have you seen Gabe's butt?

 

[Three]

The amount of "Sony didn't do anything wrong/out of line, it's the people in those 177 countries that made a mistake!" Posts was insane.

Nobody has ever said something stupid like that, stop it.

 

[Senua]

Would love to see it happen, but it won't.

I think there's something in human nature that leads to this kind of tribal behavior. Some people express it when defending their political party of choice, others when it comes to sports and their favorite team and, others, their gaming platform of choice.

Hell, there's even people that will look down on your for having an Android phone instead of a fucking iPhone.

It seems self awareness is a rare trait to a lot of peeps, if only some of these people could see themselves from the other side they'd fucking cringe.

 

[willothedog]

If nothing else, the Helldivers fiasco only reinforced my love of my platform of choice - Steam.

Consumer friendly and consumer first features are the real winners today. Having a storefront that allows verified purchase user reviews and a generous refund policy really helped tip the scales in the consumer's favor this time.

And privately held company so not held hostage by trying to please the market every quarter.

 

[Mortisfacio]

Nobody has ever said something stupid like that, stop it.

Oh hey, one of the bootlickers

 

[Boralf]

 

[Senua]

have you seen Gabe's butt?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

I think overreactions also need to stop.

Had Sony required this from launch, and also supported other countries, would this even be an issue?

How many players actually lived in those affected countries?

Sony was dumb to roll it out the way they did but there’s much more important things to worry about than this insignificant shit

 

[West Texas CEO]

 

[JayK47]

100% agree. I do not get people who takes sides with these huge faceless companies.

 

[mansoor1980]

resistance is futile....................................

 

[Senua]

 

[SlimySnake]

I always marvel at how many grown adults just rush to defend their favorite company at the slightest bit of perceived insult, criticism or sometimes a simple observation. On this very board. Every single day. It doesnt matter if its MS, Sony or Nintendo. Someone will rise to the occasion and defend the indefensible.

The other day someone was criticizing Sony's first party output being mostly cross gen and not taking full advantage of the PS5 hardware. A very astute observation and a common sense post. That obviously triggered someone to rush in and defend on the grounds that MS has also sucked this gen and their precious Sony should not be singled out. So now we have to make a supreme court argument listing all aggrieved parties and historical context when making a simple forum post. Who gives a shit.

Honestly, the moment Sony and MS announced cross gen was here to stay for 2 years, people shouldve rioted. Review bomb the games. Mass return their games. Flood Sony with refund requests. But nope, console fanboys rushed to defend and those who were critical were swiftly silenced. Now we are here 4 years in discussing leaked specs of the PS5 Pro, and potential specs of the next xbox that could release as early as next year. With a total of maybe 3-4 next gen only first party games available for each console. And the corporate bootlicking cycle will begin anew.

 

[West Texas CEO]

Stop pre-ordering.

 

[Clear]

Absolutely categorically not happening!

Look the OP's whole thesis is based on the idea that gamers are always right. Which is a hopeless proposition when we argue about everything!

So just because a certain segment gets their jimmies rustled, it doesn't follow that the rest will give a damn. And being the opinionated types that we are, will express that dissenting view because we don't want to be dragged along with every controversy of the day. Its fucking exhausting!

 

[West Texas CEO]

 

[T4keD0wN]

It doesnt happen often for PC players to like Sony while Playstation players shit on their decisions like today, i dont think there is any bootlicking going on since they would flip stance immediately or if it is its done very poorly, it just comes across as gamers on one platform hating on other gamers which is even more sad.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I bought a Large Screen TV, Fridge, Washer and Dryer at the same time, all manufactured in South Korea, It's been 3 years and these are the worst appliances I've ever owned. Expensive with parts that are already wearing out.
My tongue is off the Samsung boot.

 

[Xaeroxcore666]

I think overreactions also need to stop.

Had Sony required this from launch, and also supported other countries, would this even be an issue?

How many players actually lived in those affected countries?

Sony was dumb to roll it out the way they did but there’s much more important things to worry about than this insignificant shit

You dont get the point clearly. Today is just this "small thing which people is just overreacting", but this alone can open the gate to bigger abuses in the future. Corporations always gonna try to take advantage as closer to the breaking point as possible of it´s customers (and also of it´s employees, suppliers and anyone from the production chain). This is why is normalized on consoles paying for online gaming. Yes, they give also added value in form of "free access to libraly of games and stuff...but the point is...they are charging you for something always has been free on most PC games and now on mobile. Also, what the OP is pointing should apply also to PC gamers, specially the Steam ones. It´s doesnt matter how cool Gaben is, if sometime in the future numbers starts to go negative, Steam isnt gonna be that friendly with you anymore....Videogames companies (and corprations in denial) are not your enemies either, they provide you a service, you pay for that....That´s it. They´re not your friends. They´re not friends even with their own employees....

 

[Three]

Honestly, the moment Sony and MS announced cross gen was here to stay for 2 years, people shouldve rioted. Review bomb the games. Mass return their games.

I don't think mutual destruction is the way to go in a situation like that. It would only harm the hobby you love overall. The better thing to do is to hype the games that are doing it right for you. So say you personally enjoy games that aren't crossgen be positive about the current gen only games. Don't become part of cancel culture just because you don't like something somebody else is doing.

 

[BennyBlanco]

There is a group of unhinged PS fans who have been having a prolonged meltdown about PC ports for like 4 years. This controversy is all tied up in that. I saw a post here in the original thread about the shitstorm suggesting that Sony did this on purpose to give them an excuse to exit from the PC market. It’s getting absurd.

 

[Wastelander92]

And the people acting like it was 1984 was equally dumb. Steamies spent more time writing their review bomb than it would’ve to link a PSN account.

 

[feynoob]

have you seen Gabe's butt?

That is a sacred hole you uncultured swine.

 

[64bitmodels]

Except you Ass of Can Whooping Ass of Can Whooping - you carry on, son.

Yeah there's a major difference between parody accs like that dude who are in it for the lols and actual unabashed corporate toesuckers.
Ass of Can Whooping is a treasure of GAF. Dude is just here to shitpost about Playstation and parody fanbois.


Or he couldn't be parodying and be completely serious. Who knows. lmfao

 

[bender]

Nintendo cares about me. If they don't care about you, it's because you touch yourself in a very naughty place.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

That is a sacred hole you uncultured swine.

mods. this post is "Console warz". delete it.

 

[Topher]

If nothing else, the Helldivers fiasco only reinforced my love of my platform of choice - Steam.

Consumer friendly and consumer first features are the real winners today. Having a storefront that allows verified purchase user reviews and a generous refund policy really helped tip the scales in the consumer's favor this time.

Pretty much how I feel about it. The fact that Valve gives their customers a loud and powerful voice is a good thing. We had 10s of thousands of PC gamers voice their displeasure over this whole fiasco and in doing so they were able to get a satisfactory resolution.

Along the way, Sony learned some valuable lessons. Primarily, Carrot > Stick

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

This is why is normalized on consoles paying for online gaming. Yes, they give also added value in form of "free access to libraly of games and stuff...but the point is...they are charging you for something always has been free on most PC games and now on mobile.

If Steam players had their way they’d pay nothing for games, wait for them to be sold for pennies on some Steam deal, and we’d have a terrible ecosystem where big games are no longer being made

PlayStation players are subsidizing PC HD2 gamers.

Some companies don’t have the luxury of just sitting on storefront profits because they actually re-invest into making new games, unlike Valve

Maybe the industry should just be a race to zero where all we play are f2p mobile garbage and nobody supports the hobby they enjoy, according to you

 

[Generic]

I always marvel at how many grown adults just rush to defend their favorite company at the slightest bit of perceived insult, criticism or sometimes a simple observation. On this very board. Every single day. It doesnt matter if its MS, Sony or Nintendo. Someone will rise to the occasion and defend the indefensible.

The other day someone was criticizing Sony's first party output being mostly cross gen and not taking full advantage of the PS5 hardware. A very astute observation and a common sense post. That obviously triggered someone to rush in and defend on the grounds that MS has also sucked this gen and their precious Sony should not be singled out. So now we have to make a supreme court argument listing all aggrieved parties and historical context when making a simple forum post. Who gives a shit.

Honestly, the moment Sony and MS announced cross gen was here to stay for 2 years, people shouldve rioted. Review bomb the games. Mass return their games. Flood Sony with refund requests. But nope, console fanboys rushed to defend and those who were critical were swiftly silenced. Now we are here 4 years in discussing leaked specs of the PS5 Pro, and potential specs of the next xbox that could release as early as next year. With a total of maybe 3-4 next gen only first party games available for each console. And the corporate bootlicking cycle will begin anew.

But I like crossplay games, I don't have a PS5 yet

 

[Gaiff]

 

[Buggy Loop]

Yeah there's a major difference between parody accs like that dude who are in it for the lols and actual unabashed corporate toesuckers.
Ass of Can Whooping is a treasure of GAF. Dude is just here to shitpost about Playstation and parody fanbois.


Or he couldn't be parodying and be completely serious. Who knows. lmfao

He was actually level headed in all these helldivers 2 drama in the past days. Even the parody didn't go full bootlicker like some others.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Can someone fill me in with whats going on? I had a life this weekend and missed out on the news.

 

[64bitmodels]

If Steam players had their way they’d pay nothing for games, wait for them to be sold for pennies on some Steam deal,

Pay nothing for games, but also wait for them to be sold for pennies on some steam deal.

Yeah no. So who are you? Andrew Wilson? Bobby Kotick? This goes beyond shilling, you have to be some CEO doing damage control.

 

[TintoConCasera]

If Steam players had their way they’d pay nothing for games, wait for them to be sold for pennies on some Steam deal, and we’d have a terrible ecosystem where big games are no longer being made

What a terrible assumption to make.

I play all the new games on PC. If the game seems to be very good, I'll gladly pay full price. If not, I'll wait for a deep sale.

Sounds like common sense to me. And if companies want to have me paying full price, well then, they better start making better games rather than the half-baked, bug-ridden stuff they've been delivering as of late.

 

[Laptop1991]

I agree, but that will be hard to do, the amount of gamer's that will blindly defend their side no matter what their company does is very large, they make excuses for any bad decision and they cannot see these companies use and abuse their blind loyalty all the time, but i totally agree with Funkmiller.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Can someone fill me in with whats going on? I had a life this weekend and missed out on the news.

Nothing important. We just need threads like this every so often or somehow the earth won't remain on it's rotational axis or something.

PS mandated PS accounts for all Helldivers 2 players by 5/30, and lots of people were mad, and they reversed course. The earth has been saved once again by the angry mob fighting for the cause. . We're all winners (losers)!!

 

[GHG]

Anyone who is pro multi-layered authentication/DRM is a corporate bootlicker by default.

I really don't understand how anyone can be ok with it considering we saw what happened to all the GFWL games (even those purchased on Steam) and then more recently what Ubisoft has pulled with the crew. There is always zero benefit to the consumer, it doesn't matter whether it's EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft, or whoever. There are no exceptions and nobody has ever been able to logically explain to me why PC gamers should have to put up with it.

Bunch of cucks really.

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

If Steam players had their way they’d pay nothing for games, wait for them to be sold for pennies on some Steam deal, and we’d have a terrible ecosystem where big games are no longer being made

Are you kidding me?
The whole point with paying for games, is to send the signal that i want the publisher to keep making games i like. That is the job of a consumer, to inform the publisher of my wants and needs. if you don't pay for games, you just end up with random garbage because the game studios have no idea what people want to pay for.

As Gabe said, people are happy to pay reasonable prices for good products they want. Piracy is just a distribution issue. I can pirate games but i won't, because i don't want random rootkits in my computer. PC gamers will pay if the offer is good enough, no more and no less. PC is the wrong platform for you to accuse gamers of not paying money. Some OTHER gamers are the ones trained to not pay a dime.

 

[SJRB]

 

[64bitmodels]

He was actually level headed in all these helldivers 2 drama in the past days. Even the parody didn't go full bootlicker like some others.

I feel like that's such a fucking telling thing when the guy who's whole stick is being an exaggerated parody of Sony bootlickers had to break character to properly call out Sony on their bullshit.

And then the actual Sony bootlickers kept defending them the whole way through and calling PC gamers whiny when the entire fucking internet was against them. But we're the irrational, unpopular basement dwellers. Kek

 

[feynoob]

Anyone who is pro multi-layered authentication/DRM is a corporate bootlicker by default.

I really don't understand how anyone can be ok with it considering we saw what happened to all the GFWL games (even those purchased on Steam) and then more recently what Ubisoft has pulled with the crew.

Bunch of cucks really.

Because it doesn't effect them that much.

 

[Solidus_T]

The PC gamer faux outrage will guarantee that Nintendo, if they were ever considering PC ports, will now never, ever port their games. Good job guys

The concern about data breaches was wildly misplaced, as Sony is comparably safe compared to MS, Steam, Discord, etc.
The complaining about "corporate greed" was hilariously misplaced and possibly charged by weird fanboy vitriol, because the account, like their MS, EA, Ubisoft, COD, Rockstar accounts is free.

The only possibly valid concern was over the availability in certain countries, which Sony actually had announced that they were working on a solution. Still, there would be an interim period where the game would be literally unplayable to those who purchased the game which is unfair and actually quite treacherous.

The reason why the changes were set to be imposed was due to some gamers having been caught using cheat engine or similar tools to break the game and its in game currency. This is similar to what Riot Games is dealing with in Valorant among other games. If there is really anyone to blame for this, it is the pirates and cheaters.