@superkmx: I was only being presumptuous because of the nature of your posts, and the amount of hyperbole being used. Not intending to offend.
In regards to the friends you mentioned, honestly that feels like a pretty specific anecdote to signal out against specifically No Mans Sky. Is No Mans Sky the only game that offered pre-orders and sucked? Hardly. If anything it sounds like your friends finally learned the hard lesson about preordering and day one releases? Sucks, happens to the best of us.
Like there is an aspect to your argument that is not only not in good faith, but screams a sense of gamer entitlement that I just can't get behind. Which is frustrating because there are things that on the surface I think I agree with. Like consider the point you are attempting to make above here.
You say "maybe humanize developers more people?" but you aren't looking at the reverse. Maybe they should have humanized their potential audience and told them the truth about the state of the game (or even released the game as an "Early Access" project) rather than thinking of their fanbase as faceless money-carrying units that were bringing them $60 each, while saying whatever they could to ensure that preorders didn't get cancelled
While I can totally sympathize with consumers who in this instance felt like Sean Murray and Sony both via on stage at E3 and marketing not only misrepresented aspects of the game they were releasing, but also the state that it would be in at launch. To argue that those consumers should be "humanized" more, is...mind boggling? And I don't understand how they aren't being humanized enough? Nobody forced them to put their money down. Tons of people at the time, even regular enthusiasts not industry professionals were widely given takes about NMS that it seemed like it was over promising. At the end of the day, from a consumer standpoint, all someone burned by the game did was purchase and play it.
Just because there is money and corporations involved doesn't mean that everyone associated with a project falls under the harsh perspective you lead that they treat the entirety of their fanbase as faceless money carrying units. Do you do this with every product that has burned you? Tons of off-brand and less than advertised products exists. Because a corporation over promotes them knowing how bad they are does that mean everyone involved in the making and processing of the product is evil and shouldn't ever be humanized or celebrated?
Like in this instance, in the case of the billboard it comes down to a fanbase that recognized and wanted to reward not only Murray but the human beings at the studio for what they felt was a commitment and dedication to a product that they could of just left by the wayside. Something I remind you, a lot of corporations that treat fanbases as faceless money-carrying units would have done. I'm not saying I would of raised money for the banner or donated, in this instance. But the fact that someone chose to raise money for this doesn't remove it from being a human/touching thing. The billboard/banner wasn't bought by the fans for some corporate executive. It was bought outside the development studio so that Murray and every other developer that works there could see the appreciation and support of the fanbase they have continued to support. Arguing about what better use that money could go to, or how "you would've" used that money are both regardless to the fact that what the fans decided to do is still a very touching human moment, and one that should still be acknowledged and celebrated in my opinion.
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