WotC “just” fucked over their free advertising via their open license. Unity fucked over their entire client base and poisoned any future trust they try to establish with future clients. It’s like the CEO saw WotC and just went “Hold my golden parachute”.
Not to mention that hasbro got BTFOd so fucking hard that not only did they reverse course on OGL 2.0, they turned it into an ironclad open license for creators to do whatever the hell they wanted forever AND threw a ton of monsters and game mechanics into creative fucking commons. Granted, the damage is done and paizo had to print like the wind to keep up with demand for pathfinder books, but that’s a proper backtrack.
So if unity is truly following their footsteps, all they gotta do is make the base tier absolutely free forever and also pay the devs for every install.
Hasbro’s problem was confusing the Excel sheet with reality because the management doesn’t have a single clue about the product. Once the Excel sheet was modified to be closer to reality by including some representation of the user base’s trust, they worked with their new reality to maximize the long term profits.
Unity, on the other hand, adopted the contempt for their own customers philosophy from EA, which requires them to have an adversarial relationship with them. Riccitiello probably can’t even sleep properly at night knowing that his customers aren’t basically working for him.
“If your customers aren’t unhappy with you, you’re not maximizing your business upsides”, Riccitiello, probably.
Considering they sent the literal Pinkertons after someone, I wouldn’t give hasbro much credit about anything. People can do whatever they like, but in my circle of 10 or so ttrpg players, we’ve moved to other games.
It’s more like the ex-CEO of EA thought “how can I make Unity more like EA”?
And every other company will try the same thing until people get apathetic and the backlash becomes manageable, then more companies will follow suit because theres money to made until eventually its just the norm and most people dont give a shit or actively defend it because “They’re a business, they need to make money somehow!!!” or some other apologist bullshit.
Its the same way we went from Bethesda Horse armour being a big deal that people pushed back against, to the same type of shitty DLC being the expected industry norm now.
I really hate those apologetic corp shills with a passion. Like how with OW2, when they introduced anextremely expensive shop system and a BP you can’t earn in game (after buying OW1 for money). Then they crawl out of their little holes and proclaiming “last time I checked OW2 is f2p, why do you all complain so much???” Ugh…
If you just want to make games, Unity doesn’t want you as a customer.
They spent around a billion dollars on IronSource, a company who’s entire business model is telling devs “why don’t you make your game really unfun and grindy and fill it with funbucks?” Apparently that idea is worth a billion dollars.
They just want shitty mobile games, and for that, they can fuck off.
It’s a real shame, because Unity had built itself a niche among indie devs trying to get their games on PC and consoles. Some of my favourite games in the last few years have been made in Unity, from The Outer Wilds to Death’s Door.
“Customer feedback and engagement numbers have never been this good!”
Before WotC there was Bethesda trying to make a profit on community mods. These companies love to recycle bad ideas.
Like microtransactions, they just need a single win to get all of them through the door forever. The horse armor wasn’t the first microtransaction, but it was what normalized it in people’s mind, and the fight was lost for customers.
What did Wizards of the Coast do?
Something like wanting to change the D&D licensing so that they can share in any profits made by 3rd parties, anyone making user content, adventures, etc.
The key part was they made it retroactive just like unity did. Essentially meant you needed to both pay wizards and also they could use any of your content without paying you. They wanted to kill Pathfinder.
Let’s not forget squeezing money from actual plays like Critical Role.
Funny how critical role is making it’s own system…
When WotC finally backed down and dual-licensed the SRD OGL 1.0a and Creative Commons, I decided to end my boycott. They were cooperating with the community’s demands. (Finally.)
And then they sent the Pinkertons after one of their MTG customers.
So, fuck Hasbro. (Hasbro owns WotC.) I’m not giving them another dime. I DM a 5e game, but I’m not purchasing anything 5e again.
I have less investment in the Unity situation, but fuck those assholes too.
I highly recommend Pathfinder 2e if you want something else. I think the action system is a lot of fun and gives ample room for roleplaying. Having played both, I don’t think I’ll ever go back to 5e
Thanks for the new response pic, Shen Comix! <3 (top-right panel)
Reddit said they liked how Musk was operating Twitter
It’s much easier to be 2nd to implement anti-user policies than it is to be 1st
WOOHOO another Shen comic! That dude makes a ton of great comics.
here’s the source for this one.
there’s also Live With Yourself which is mostly run by his associate David Catman, but still a fun read.
