First off I would like to say that I think the word 'blamed' is the wrong one. The developers have nothing to be 'blamed' for. They work for a large company that has a certain set of priorities and certain methods that allow them to achieve those priorities. They don't deserve the demonization that is beginning to make itself more obvious around here. FWIW I also don't believe in the opposite extreme where they have been almost sainted by various people.
What it comes down to is this: the devs are people who work for a games company. They clearly have an interest in world war two submarines but, at the end of the day, they are professional games developers who will work on whatever product they are tasked with because they are professionals and they need to eat, cloth their families and pay the mortgage. Unlike Firewall i don't think people are thick for forgetting some of this stuff but I do think that the weird fandamentalism - wordplay intended - that has increased in the gaming community as a whole over the last few years seems to force common sense out of peoples heads.
Beyond this is another point I would like to make: while I don't think the word 'Blamed' is the right one, I still think the developers, as the ones who made the actual game, should take some responsibility for it. Yes, they take their orders from management. So do I, so do a lot of you. But orders from management don't absolve us of taking responsibility for the quality of the job we do.
I have seen nothing so far that suggests to me that the developers will not take responsibility for the game. In fact, Dan's post in the other thread tells me that they are aware of many of the game's failings. I am sure many things will be patched. I am sure many things will not be and I'm fairly positive that it will never be the simulator I or many other people wanted. Here's the thing: Neither SH3 or SH4 were the sim I wanted but I thought both of them were a lot of fun. It's probably worth pointing out that nobody has yet made the sub sim I would be 100% in love with. And while I also don't believe that there should be a tacit compact between the devs and modders whereby the modders end up fixing the game (compass anyone?), I'm at least thankful that someone over there had the foresight and decency to provide us with a game that appears to be pretty moddable.
I don't own SH5 yet, and I have no plans on doing so for a while and not only because of the issues that have arisen. I do think it was brave to introduce new and unfamiliar features to the game. The chance to actually skipper a u-boat instead of playing all the roles is something I've been interested in for a while. That other traditional and tested features seem to have been hit is not something I feel good about but all we can do is see how it pans out.
I know I'm not the target demographic any more and that they don't make sims for people like me (which is rubbish by the way as anyone who has played Over Flanders's Field or Black Shark or read the recent interview with Maddox about Storm of War can verify,) but it think many of us forget that there ARE devs and publishers out there who still make damn good games and sims. it might take a while but I'm sure one day we will see a sub sim that presses all the buttons. Until then I've still got SH4.
Oh, and can we please dump all the silly car metaphors at the login button please. They don't work. If Sh5 crashes it doesn't throw me through the windscreen.
Just my thoughts.
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