*TOO LONG TO READ I'M SORRY =\
... if not the fan-based community... (people and groups who released mods, standalone versions, since the "complete-era" mods (more than what 10 years now?)
anyway, since microsft is spreading like a virus acquiring all companies it can, formatting the next-gen gaming experience to be "cloud-based". e;g: pay monthly subscription, have NO PHYSICAL COPY. (digital ones can be locked, like a cod modernwarfare i had, spent months without even logging on then one day "my account was suspended and get in touch with support" of course, no one would come forward saying: your username had cyrillic characters/your character skin was wearing RF uniform and patch ) - is that even a reason to block the account? all things might be "fancy" and "digital" but that cash certainly wasn't lol. I've found out some ppl were either "having the same issue" (reaching the conclusion that having a "too pro-russian profile in a call of duty game (known for its controversial absurdities regarding "what's considered offensive"....
Could i be exageratin? i dunno im not even russian. Nonetheless regardless what i am. its simply ridiculous. i couldn't even download the thing again to play with bots who "wouldn't feel offended by having some army units with patches (unlike the promotion of "women extremists" (very bad attempt at mixing kurdz YPG female fighters in a "moderate rebel" setting in a plot where the protagonist goes AWOL deserts, and join the "not-so-radical" cell)
Yeah ive had to go over this complete garbage to just make you think : "Whats more offensive than that?" Well, if you have like a xbox /microsoft account and spent cash in "digital copies" you might one day see realize you've been ripped off (i heard xbox online services will be unavailable for RU. so i guess, if you have a "digital library" its at risk.
Why? because some western narrow-minded company (which probably thinks the "anomalies, experiments and secret labs" in stalker series are fictional versions of "the real secret labs undergoing secret off the record research" ? LOL not that there was a NOVEL a 3 hour philosophical-thought-provoking movie with no "western merceneries nor secret labs" but based on the chelyabinsk meteorite incident... not even the NPP itself has to do with the original story has it? but it wouldn't prevent them from stealing it.
Playing some of the recent stalker mods. i can't help but notice how many scripts/animations stuff from metro series had been used. Aren't
outcome: someone will get really mad at this evil business model. Especially because some companies in the early 2000s went bankrupt due to the "dotnet bubble" (caused by the same microsoft hoarders, the "Embracer" group ) Thats why definitely the future of gaming belongs to the modders as the I.T community used to be in the 80s 90s (open source, indie) because you either "surrender your intellectual rights" or truly empty your pockets to dedicate to game developing without financial support. This politics/business is sure boring and some might think is out of context. A software developer might think otherwise.. a modder can see himself/herself as a software developer. even working remotely with people from different countries, and still able to achieve/create something.
According to GSC original CEO:
"I remembered the principle: if you want to do something but don't know what exactly, look at the others and don't do the same. Our market didn't demand intellect in those times, so we decided to target the western audience. Moreover, the CIS market was unstable after the 1998 crisis."
Sergiy Grygorovych (GSC - hence the company's initials \ his own name)
How could the small 4A team develop launch the metro series, then the remastered/HD + metro exodus (which, in a risky attempt to "re-create" itself, expand its original plot without falling in the "open-cliché-world trap"? And they were the ones having $$$ issues? *or so as it is said.. i don't think they "financial situation was the real reason" after all, it was when THQ had filled for bankruptcy and auctioned "everything") - maybe that's why we're getting "remakes, remasters" its about business and not really gaming. Ever wonder why writers never declared strike? because they can't rely on writing as a means to survive (except maybe Dostoevsky hehe) So modders are people commited to doing it because IF THEY DON'T DO IT, Who else will? It has been a decade since "we've been seeing the same patterns here and there"
- internet, cinema, social media***, "big tech"
Now it has been the "art of ripping off ppl while trying to make it not only "entertaining", but also educational when it comes to "ethical" grounds such as "coercive techniques... children begging parents a credit card subscription in something the "customer" is not interested. The customer doesn't even want to know, but also doesn't want kids crying over stupid monthly subscriptions of a digital service" - Companies don't even have to manufacture and ship physical units. just "stream"... people pay for something that's not owned (at least in the 90s we still had something) So how come they "fall short on money?" i don't understand. Do modders set fundraisers? yes, when they're onto something big and don't wanna abort the project.
What we sadly most see is youtubers streamers making money off the modders's work. They monetize with content created by people WHO ARE UNABLE to earn what revenue could be earnt by monetization... thats ***** unfair isnt?
... And when a group of then do some achieve some groundbreaking success, they are either sued by lazy people "who pay to acquire intellectual property, so they can assure no one "develops something based on a concept".
... which is way i can't understand how stalker 2 is coming.. and why no russian localization will be available, neither its storyline, plot... i mean, it was not supposed to have anything to do with reactor number 4 and exclusion zone... (nor secret labs and foreign UN mercenaries lol) Seriously how can we say whether a "gameplay footage" is "real" and not some "breakthrough work-in-progress stuff" like we have seen here? modders exhausted all the possibilities of the old XRAY engine, and continue to surpass, create, even experiment with different engines, so up to this point WHO is more motivated to work on the sequel? BTW in software development in general. I think the modders are. Sorry for the absurdity of this manifesto its neither a comment nor a wall-text anymore. sorry,
never gave much thought into this... but since microsoft acquired bethesda steam (now i remember this studio being very friendly and flexible towards modders. maybe microsoft isnt? no, i think not. they "erased" a digital copy of that stupid COD just because "it was too pro russian" (man, no one ever said that, BUT haven't denied either. no way they wouldn't pay attention to hundredz of poztz of danila bagrov playing chess in chicago and well , you get it. .. i mean THEY think they're powerful and right because they have kept the account with the $$$$ "worth" of scamscriptions and can silence/boycott people . But the truth is that the modding community is having its struggle similar to 80s 90s ( An Open Letter To Hobbyists) the several times US court and even the european (they agreed there "was a lot of greed")
Just look now... how much % of "everything" EVERYTHING its owned by? Please i'm not crusading the net on a campaign against MS.. its just the thought that we REALLY need to learn how to cope without these virulent trends . Knowing that "we" (modders, devs, wannabe devs, self-taught/amateur scriptkiddies) who think alike, we can do better. because we like it and lets face it: the one thing keeping the dev/independent community togheter is the same one which tries to split it appart. (oh thats wishful thinking? but at some point this psychopathological rant must end. Thank you all for inspiring.
TOO LONG TO READ * SORRY
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