• CaptainEffort@sh.itjust.works
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    5 months ago

    Microsoft was massive back then too and interacted with a lot of various studios. They notoriously forced Valve to charge money for their free Left 4 Dead dlc because they thought it would set a bad precedent.

    So I wouldn’t be surprised if some Microsoft employee inspired the horse armor dlc.

    • thesmokingman@programming.dev
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      5 months ago

      ZeniMax was doing dumb shit long before Microsoft. Bethesda has had a clueless culture for more than a decade. 2019’s disastrous performance across almost all verticals not only showed how clueless both BGS and ZeniMax were, it also paved the way for the Microsoft acquisition so Altman could get his bag. Todd Howard and Pete Hines let their original successes go to their heads and forgot the market changes.

      • CaptainEffort@sh.itjust.works
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        5 months ago

        True, but it’s not just clueless. It’s malicious too.

        I’ll never forget how they originally introduced paid modding through Steam, then apologized when people got mad, only to bring it back with the Creation Club years later when the anger died down.

        They literally only apologized so they could calm people down and do it again later - it was a flat out lie. They tried to justify it with Pete Hynes arguing with people on Twitter, swearing up and down that CC content were “mini-dlcs”, not mods, so they actually upheld their promise. It was a bs excuse.

        But at least they had an excuse. Recently they straight up allowed paid mods on their store, without excuses, dropping the mask entirely. Proving once and for all that their apology meant nothing and that they’d monetize the modding scene no matter what.

        And let’s not forget Fallout 76 and all the shady shit surrounding that…