this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2024

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Is there a community list of VG company not to buy from? (feddit.it)

submitted 8 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

53 comments fedilink hide all child comments

After reading today EA's takes on AI and strategies about ~~boosting user monetization~~ promoting and exploitation of user's gambling addiction, I asked myself "How can someone defend those company agains boycotting and piracy?".

So here I am: is there somewhere a curated list of VG companies to absolutely avoid giving money too? If not, do you thing we should do it? It would be nice to have a list with arguments and sources in order to make more publicly relevant the ethical and strateical reasons behind piracy.

p.s.I think it's ok if you pirate things even without a moral stand behind, especially if you can't afford games and other media at all, but the arguments still apply

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I think Za/um should be in such list

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

For me, its almost all the big studios.

One exception being FROM, and a few of the Sony owned studios.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 8 months ago (1 children)

there's no ethical consumption under capitalism. you kind of have to make your peace with that and steal when you can

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

This is what I've tried to remind myself of when I'm debating purchases. Usually I'll wait to buy something on a steep sale or second hand. Or I'll pirate it if I think the company is doing something shitty. But at the end of the day someone, somewhere down the line is getting screwed over. It all floats up to the top. There's no trickle down

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago

EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Sony(particularly, Sony if youre buying digital, Sony doesnt give a shit if your purchases suddenly go ”missing")

[–] [email protected] 64 points 8 months ago (4 children)

For simplicity, I have it in regex format

.+

Jokes aside, Nintendo, EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Activision-blizzard and Nintendo are the ones that come to mind.

If indi and plays well on deck, I'm generally on paying.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

Also Ta**Two/Rockstar

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago

Warner Bros

[–] [email protected] 20 points 8 months ago

Don't forget Nintendo.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 8 months ago (1 children)

If it's publicly traded, just don't.

The one exception I have is id, but I also don't preorder, so if they fuck up the next Doom or Quake, I'll know before I buy anyway.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

This, publicly trading means your company is now the product, games are just a way to make the stock price go up, so they need to sell gazillions and have the broadest possible audience.

This inevitably leads to flavour of the month design by committee garbage gameplay, enshittified business models like "live service", and writing catering to "global audiences" with cookie cutter quips and insufferable millennial "humour".

All that or whatever the fuck cod writers are mainlining alongside taurine and the tortured soul of Chris Benoit.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I have a bunch, but off the top of my head: Ubisoft, EA, Microsoft, Tencent, anything that's Epic exclusive. I should really have Take-Two on there as well but realistically I'm never not going to play Civilization so my principles fail me there.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 8 months ago (1 children)

So, all of the triple A publishers. Got it.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 8 months ago

Pretty much lol

[+] [email protected] -6 points 8 months ago (2 children)

Do you really need a list to tell you what to buy and not buy?

I mean it really doesn't take that much effort to avoid those companies you don't like.

Keeping a community list seems stupid, everyone has different things they like and don't like, and the gaming community isn't a personal army, despite what others might think.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

Damn, man. Are you alright? Why are you so stressed?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Eh with the amount of bs companies do it gets pretty hard to keep track of

Plus most people don't really have the time to dig into all of that

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

I think the point I was more getting at is that the bullshit that companies do is extremely subjective, and everyone has their own different things that they feel are important issues. But you're not wrong. There is a lot of BS to keep track of.

And I'm thinking that if it's related to something you do actually care about, you should be digging into it. Plenty of people are trying to mislead people all the time, and it's so easy to get swept up in fake outrage if you don't actually stop to question things.

That's why a bunch of people are angry at a consulting firm for a bunch of different game studios right now. Because somebody literally just made a list of things for people to be mad at.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 8 months ago (2 children)

I literally don't buy anything I can get for free.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

YARRRR

[–] [email protected] 8 points 8 months ago (2 children)

If you only consider monetary cost, you can get anything free.

If you consider risk, opportunity, and effort, nothing is free.

For your statement to be literally true, you must either buy literally everything or literally nothing depending on your perspective.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Or A really rich friend that wants to play games with you

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Sugar daddies fall under "effort"...at least if you want them to keep paying for your games.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Based and petrol siphon pilled

[–] [email protected] 11 points 8 months ago (1 children)

Unless it's a structured, concentrated effort, I'm afraid that individuals boycotting won't do much except saving you a few bucks. I don't see that happening, considering the track record of gamers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI6BNvxmWD4

If you live in Europe/Australia and bought tne Crew, there's something going on about creating a precedent that would forbid games as a service getting killed by Ross Scott.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 8 months ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

https://www.piped.video/watch?v=tI6BNvxmWD4

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 8 months ago

That would be a pretty long list and also highly subjective. I'm a big fan of Paradox Interactive but can see how many feel their business model of multiple paid dlc, for what are often core features, to be highly predatory. The obvious ones being EA, Ubisoft and Activision Blizzard spring to mind though.

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